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37signals hits the books, buys a chunk of The Starter League (formerly Code Academy)

37signals, the company behind popular productivity apps like Basecamp and Highrise, has just announced its first investment in a third-party company: The Starter League. The price has not been disclosed, but we do know that this is a “small, non-controlling, non-voting” investment.

Formerly known as Code Academy (note: not Codecademy), The Starter League is an intensive Chicago-based code school with an emphasis on the popular Ruby framework, Ruby on Rails. Lucky for them, it just so happens that 37signals created Rails back in 2004. Clearly, this is not a bad match.

As explained in the announcement, The Starter League first caught the attention of 37signals’s Jason Fried over a year ago. Since then, the school bootstrapped itself to profitability and has graduated over 300 students with over $1M in revenues.

This investment will allow 37signals to push education more than ever before, while giving The Starter League some breathing room to grow. With the investment in place, 37signals will be contributing to the program:

37signals will host an all-new Rails for Designers class in the 37signals office starting this fall. The class will run on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3-6pm. Tuition will be $6000.

37signals will take at least one intern per quarter from the current Starter League class. The internship could be in Rails, design, or whatever other classes are taught.

37signals will help The Starter League develop curriculum around 37signals-style practices of software development.

37signals will help The Starter League design the best student experience in the business.

Various people from 37signals will serve as mentors and guest speakers during The Starter League classes.

If you’re interested in learning to code and live in Chicago (or are willing to travel), definitely check out The Starter League via the link below.